THE Big Apple could be next for Ricky Burns if he stays top banana in the WBO lightweight division by beating Ray Beltran at the SECC on September 7.

The Scot will be motivated by the thought of a money-spinning fight against American Terence Crawford at Madison Square Garden early in 2014 when he makes his fourth title defence against Beltran.

Manager Eddie Hearn went to the States to meet promoter Bob Arum last week and found out the extent of American broadcasters’ interest in having Burns fight in their country and on their screens.

Beltran – ranked eighth in the WBO ratings and trained by the renowned Freddie Roach – will provide credible opposition in the meantime but the first opponent Burns has to beat is scepticism.

The champion’s fight against Jose Gonzalez in May, won when the loser retired on his stool with just three rounds to go in Glasgow, caused his detractors to question Burns’ stature.

But the Coatbridge ace believes he deserves a big US fight.

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He said: “It has always been a dream of mine to fight in Las Vegas or New York – and it’s good to hear talk of Madison Square Garden.

“But it won’t happen unless I bring my ‘A’ game to the fight with Beltran. I need to make a statement and prove people wrong.

“There was talk about me when the Gonzalez fight ended with him well ahead on the scorecards.

“People were saying I didn’t have it any more but the mistakes from that night won’t happen again.”

Hearn was even more forthright about that bout when he said Gonzalez was one round away from becoming the new champion.

He said: “You look at Ricky fighting someone with 22 wins and no defeats on his record and you hope Gonzalez is a hype job.

“Unfortunately, he wasn’t. He was really good. But Ricky found a way to beat his spirit and the way he fought back in the seventh round made it the best three minutes of boxing excitement I’ve ever seen.

“The bottom line is Ricky has to be better next time. He has to beat Beltran in a way that proves he’s the best in the division.

“If he does that, Ricky sends a loud message out to the power players in the States.

“They then have to pay big bucks to get him to America, or else they have to bring whoever they want to fight Ricky in Scotland.

“Going to America appeals to us but so does an open-air fight at a Scottish football ground.”

Burns has now turned 30 but age is just a number for the champion who said: “I expect to fight into my late 30s and that gives me plenty of time to crack America.”